Of Poetry and Protest Exhibit Opening

Presented by The Guild Literary Complex + Rebuild Foundation

Continuing the collaboration between The Guild Complex and Rebuild Foundation built on the 2016 anthology of African American political art and poetry, Of Poetry and Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin (WW Norton), this exhibit seeks to capture the transformative power that fuels social movements and sustains families and communities confronting state violence against black and brown youth. Curated by Of Poetry and Protest Co-Editor/Guild Founding Director Michael Warr together with The Guild and Rebuild, the exhibit presents words and images – portraits, poems, documentation, and creative responses — featured in the book, alongside Present Absence, a five-channel video installation by the artists Salome Chasnoff + Meredith Zielke that makes visible the lives of individuals killed by Chicago Police through stories generated from intimate one-on-one interviews with their families and close friends. This work is presented along with, and in response to, Rebuild Foundation’s Objects of Care: Material Memorial for Tamir Rice on the Arts Bank lawn. The opening will provide a chance to view all of these works and meet the artists and curators behind the exhibit, who will also speak about the work during a short, informal public conversation. Light appetizers will be provided and the Stony Island Arts Bank’s bar will be open for business. The Of Poetry and Protest exhibit will remain on display through the summer.

Present Absence promo video from salome chasnoff on Vimeo.